A Day in the Life of a Soldier
by xScuroFenicex
Summary: Set into the near future, a soldier is deployed to the elite branch of the army and is requested to try out new technology in armor. They must travel through a series of obstacle courses that tests the fidelity of said armor.


**I decided to upload this, I am not making a story out of it unless people are actually interested in it; I wrote this for a creative writing assignment and thought it was good enough to add onto here. I own EVERYTHING in here, and no, it is not related to the video game Black Ops if any of you were wondering. Enjoy, and give me some feedback dang it! I hate it when readers don't critique -_-**

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><p>"Over here is the barracks where our men reside when they're not training." The Drill Sergeant announced, waving an uninterested hand at the collection of small buildings to his right. I could hear the distant explosion of assault rifles that grew louder as we continued the tour.<p>

"You're here today because of your extensive knowledge in weaponry as well as your skills in strategic infiltration," He continued, "Don't disappoint me and you might just get to be in the army's elite force." The man turned and smiled wickedly, "Do disappoint me and wave goodbye to your reputation." With that, he continued on until we reached the training grounds. I watched as a group of five men made their way through a series of lethal obstacles; a field of buried mines; a heavily guarded mock enemy outpost; sneaking through one hundred feet of open ground while choppers hovered from above and shot at the lightest hint of movement. I widened my eyes, impressed and surprised as those men cleared the entire course in fifteen minutes.

"They really are the elite." I exclaimed.

The Sergeant chuckled, "You haven't seen the best of them yet; Dayne, our most skilled, can get through that hell in eight minutes." He motioned to a nearby soldier, "Go to the armory and bring our rookie a toy to play with; an M16A1 should be efficient enough."

"An assault rifle?" I asked incredulously, "I'm best with long range weapons, why not a sniper?"

"Because first I need to see how you can handle the basics before I set you loose." The man said as his soldier ran off to get the needed items.

I started to get jumpy; I wanted to show this Drill Sergeant my full potential. What seemed like forever, the soldier came back with the gun and an extra 300 bullets; since assault rifles spit off 15 ammo every second, I would need all of it. I took the M16 from him and inspected it. The weapon looked the same as the ones I'd used before, but it felt lighter somehow. I raised an eyebrow at the Sergeant.

"They're made with high grade, lightweight aluminum alloy." He answered to my unspoken question.

"But can it withstand abuse? I use my supplies to their full extent and if they can't keep up, they're useless to me." I shifted my weight from one foot to the other and waited. I could still hear gunfire to my left and my fingers twitched eagerly towards the gun's trigger.

"Why don't you find out? I know an action prone soldier when I see one and the only thing keeping you from bolting to the targets is protocol." He waved a hand, dismissing me, "Fine. I grant permission for you to begin training. A word of warning though, everything you've learned is like playing with dolls compared to this."

I nodded and a small grin betrayed my excitement. "Thank you sir, I'll take that to mind." I saluted, turned towards the direction of the target practice and briskly walked away. Three other soldiers were shooting at lifelike moving holographic images of the enemy when I arrived. I walked over to an empty spot and lifted the assault rifle; the butt of the gun rested firmly on my left shoulder just above my armpit. I placed my right foot in front to help reduce the recoil when I pulled the trigger. I saw movement in front of me just a little to the right; I aimed an shot off a couple of short three round bursts. There was a computerized scream to show I had hit my target. Four more targets were eliminated before the Sergeant arrived; he watched my performance with a blank face.

"Let's try you on the obstacle course." He said after I ran out of bullets. I had shot down less targets than I wanted to and cringed. This was probably his way of saying "I'm going to make this experience a living hell and if you quit, so much the better."

"Yes sir!" I said and stood at attention.

"At ease, private. You'll be wearing our newest technology in armor so I don't have to explain to the General why pieces of you are scattered on the ground."

"May I ask sir, what exactly do you mean by newest technology?"

"It stops everything short of a nuke from lowing you to high heaven. You'll be the first one to test it. Be honored soldier, not many newbies get this chance."

"Thank you, sir."

"Private Sheen will escort you to the armory. Meet me at the course in forty five minutes."

I gave him a quick salute and followed Pvt. Sheen to a large building where he took me down a flight of stairs.

"The technicians will outfit you." Then he was gone.

It took forty minutes alone to equip the armor and at the end, the technicians had to snap at me to stop fidgeting. Finally they released me and I traveled over to the familiar figure of the Sergeant. I again saluted in recognition; my metal plated hand clanged loudly against the helmet I wore.

"Are you ready soldier?" The man shouted.

"Yes sir!" I answered.

"Then start running!"

I hesitated, "Am I supposed to be weaponless?" I asked.

"This is a test for the armor, you're just trying to get through the course alive." He pointed to the other end of the obstacles, "See that bell? Ring it in five minutes."

"Wait... What? Five minutes?" I said, startled.

"Time starts now, get moving!" The Sergeant yelled.

His shouting jolted me into a sprint and I ran directly for the first obstacle, a field of active mines. Each time my feet hit the ground, I cringed, expecting one to go off, but surprisingly there were no explosions the beginning five yards. I was starting to think there really weren't any mines and the Sergeant was trying to scare me, but then the ground began to shake violently. Bits of shrapnel pinged against my armor as the mines near me all exploded simultaneously. I gasped as the force threw me forward ten feet; my reflexes enabled me to roll as I hit the ground and quickly stand up. The field was behind, but then came the mock enemy base. Turrets let loose a steady stream of bullets as soon as I came into view. Remembering my military training, I began to use evasive maneuvers and ran from one cover, a stack of barrels, to a cement barrier. Still, I wasn't quick enough to escape unscathed I was shot enough times that if the armor wasn't protecting me, I would be dead ten times over.

I turned my head and spotted the Drill Sergeant by the bell. He tapped his wrist, indicating I was running out of time. I took a quick check of the armor's condition, and double checked, shocked. There were barely any scratches and a couple of scorch marks where the fire from the mine explosions hit me. The sound of helicopters made me look up; two fully armed choppers circled above, patrolling the last hundred feet to the bell. I gritted my teeth and, trusting the vigilance of my armor, ran as fast as I could to my destination. Immediately I was shot at from two different directions by gunners. One of them laughed maniacally and yelled, "Dance fool, dance!" As I was forced to jump into the air when some of the bullets got too close to my feet.

My flight response almost made me go into a panic, but I was determined to complete my mission no matter how suicidal it was. Tuning out the sound of bullets pinging off the armor. I focused on tha bell and sprinted straight for it. One of the choppers released a missile that hit the ground to my right. I stumbled, almost falling, but quickly found my footing. I reached out my hand to the bell, wrapped it around the handle and smiled in relief as a clear ringing sounded in my ears. Just before I rang it, another missile was released and it now landed under my feet, making my already bruised and battered body fly sideways and slam into the ground. I lay on my back, gasping for breath, too weak to stand up.

"Four minutes, fifty three seconds." A voice exclaimed, "Not bad for a rookie." The Sergeant came into my sight and helped me up. He patted my arm. "Welcome to Black Ops, soldier."


End file.
